Becoming Human
by The Assassin's mentor
Summary: Years of fighting have whittled down on Sargent Riley O'Neil "Ghost". Seeing many of his men die in front of him, they haunted him everyday. Nothing he does could ever atone for his actions. After sacrificing himself on Planet Algolis, he began his journey of becoming human again. Can a ghost become human again?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**A/N: Well, I can't help it. Ideas are always flooding my head and I have filled out more than four notebooks worth of keeping stories intact. Plot and diagrams to make sure I don't forget the good ideas I come up with. So, please bear with me. I made a bow that I'll make sure to update my other stories. That's my promise.**

**So, this came up in mind after watching Halo Legends. The episode Prototype was the episode of this series that hit me home. Many leaders have faced the same situations Ghost had to go through. I thought it be good to give him another chance after giving him some thought.**

**This be following some canon as well my own story plot.**

**Disclaimer: I don't RWBY or Halo. They belong to their respective owners.**

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><p><strong>Location: Unknown<strong>

**Date: April 20th, 2548**

**Green Beacon Squad**

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><p>It was a quite night. The dark green leaves of the forest rustled through the soft breeze as they bathed in the gentle moonlight of the bronze twin moons in orbit of the planet. It seemed peaceful enough. You could just walk hours on end just to feel at peace and relaxed. This planet was that deal, and the colonists prospered from it.<p>

That was until two years ago that stopped all together.

Two years ago, Covenant forces have overrun the planet within a matter of weeks after launching a surprise attack on the colony. UNSC personnel were sent to fight back against the Covenant forces to retake the planet since it was in a strategic location well suited for supplying and shipping lanes for UNSC frigates to come and pass through for support and reinforcements.

And since then, it has been a hard campaign fighting in with military causalities almost surpassing twenty hundred thousand in the first year of fighting. But slowly, they have been gaining ground, fuelled to retake the planet.

A small squad of marines were slowly marching through the forest. Weapons at the ready in case if they were ambushed suddenly from any direction. They moved in cautious formation with their MA5C assault rifles in hand. This was just another cakewalk for them if things would play out right. They find enemy positions and get out of there without making contact.

The squad leader of the group had his eyes scanning the front relentlessly. The squad leader has seen enough to last his lifetime. But despite all that he has been through, his light brown eyes still look soft and passive. Save for a few grey strands in his short black hair, he was looking alright for being in the military for a number of years now.

A marine then panicked slightly and aimed her rifle at the foliage to her right. "I-I heard something," She muttered underneath her breath. A few strands of her red hair was going past her forehead and in front of her rather innocent green eyes.

"Amy, it's nothing. If it was something, the sarge would've checked it out by now," One of the other marines told her.

Amy just nodded at him and followed behind the marine who caught her attention. "Brian, I'm pretty sure I heard something. I think the Sargent didn't hear it."

"Amy, for the last time, the sarge knows what he's doing," Brian told her again to keep her calm. He was a newly graduated cadet from boot camp along with Amy and most of the marines in the squad. Only a small portion were actually veterans along with the Sargent. But he was just looking out for Amy who was the newer addition to the squad.

The squad leader soon raised his left hand up making the squad stop in their tracks. "Get behind those tress. Now," He ordered. His voice was firm and gravely toned with seriousness and a drop of venom. They didn't even had second thoughts and heeded to his order and hid behind the trees. He did so himself as well and got down to his knee. "Stay quiet. Don't move," He told them via radio through their helmets.

A few minutes passed on by since he gave out his order to the squad. And things have gotten quiet. Rather too quiet for their liking, even for his. This usually meant something. He then felt a soft tap on his shoulder. He looked behind him to see his second-in-command right there. "Ghost, should we move out now? The men are getting restless," He told him, calling him by his callsign.

"We don't move, corporal. You will follow my orders until I say we move again. Understood?" The squad leader, now know as Ghost, hissed back at the corporal. The corporal only nodded in obedience and slowly stood back up. But he never got to stand all the way up when purple crystal stuck itself into his head by the side. He fell in front of Ghost with the blood seeping out of his head. "Shit-"

"Ambush!" One of the marines screamed and ran out of his cover to run. He was only to be riddled with plasma shots, bright green and blue rounds burning right into his chest. He fell down dead onto his back with the plasma wounds smoking.

"Return fire! Return fire!" One of the veteran marines leaned out of cover and fired his MA5C assault rifle rounds at the flashing lights that fired at their little perimeter, bright lights criss-crossing through the air. The younger marines soon started following his actions and returned fire as well at the lights.

Ghost ran towards cover in a low position and rolled towards another tree just before a plasma shot almost grazed his back. As he came back up into his crouched position, he pulled a frag grenade out and lobbed it far in front of him. When he heard the explosion of the grenade, he heard multiple roars and screams before they went silent. He smiled a bit sadistically before turning around and fired a small burst into the face of an Elite charging for him with it's Plasma Rifle overheated. "Wrong choice in running for me, buddy."

"Sarge! We're in a killzone! We gotta move!" One of the marines shouted from his cover.

"No! We stay here and fight it out! Keep fighting!" Ghost shouted back. Without looking, he slung his rifle to his back and pulled out a knife from his left shoulder. He spun around and stabbed the knife into the head of another Elite through it;s left eye. He turned it around and shifted inside it's head and pulled it out before kicking it to the ground.

And that decision has costed him something more than he thought it would've cost... Losing himself.

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><p><em>Fifteen minutes later...<em>

The scent of blood and burnt flesh was prominent in the air. Smoke rose from trees and corpses alike. Bodies of numerous UNSC Marines laid dead among the ground and against trees. Some bodies were riddled with plasma rounds imbedded into their chests. Some were torn apart from limb to limb. Other atrocities were done more horrific than one man can explain.

But only one could.

Ghost was in the middle of a clearing. The mangled corpses of his men were littered around him like discarded bullet shells that littered the ground just as the same. Yet it didn't faze him. Not one bit.

A marine was in his arms as he was knelt on the ground. A small bit of blood was dripping down his face heading towards to the right. Once again, that didn't faze him. Not one bit.

Her red hair was now messed up covering a small bit of her head. Her eyes stared up in the night sky seeing the twin bronze moons. Blood was trailing away from her lips with bloodstains on her neck. She let out a pained smiled, wincing in pain form her smiling."Sarge. Look at the moon." She laughed softly saying that. "It's funny, I never noticed how beautiful the moons are here. Do you think anybody noticed?" She asked Ghost weakly.

The Sargent only hushed her quietly as he slowly pulled out the needle of the Biofoam canister. Setting it beside him, he took a close look at her wound. In the stomach, a large gnash that was bleeding heavily. Now barely thanks to the medical attention he was able to provide. "Stay quiet. The Biofoam's working but you're still bleeding," He told her sharply, cradling her in his arms to keep her close.

"There's something I've always wanted to know. Your call-sign. Ghost. What does it mean?" The marine asked him, completely ignoring his order to stay put. Her time was waning, and it was shortening quickly than her short life span.

Ghost gritted his teeth behind his mouth but didn't want to show her this action. _"Why won't she just stay quiet. She needs to save her strength!" _He held his stoic composure and kept on looking at her. "Stop talking. You've got to hold tight until the med-evac gets here."

She let out a soft giggle at him despite her sharp pain in her stomach. "You finally have an excuse to show that you care and..." Amy stopped in her words when she blacked out for a moment. Nodding mentally, she said, "Let me ask you something. Just one last thing. It won't hurt, I promise." She took her time gathering her strength to ask him, "What was I to you?"

Ghost was slightly set off by that question she asked him. No one before has ever asked him that. But something faint in his memory tickled the back of his mind saying that he was asked that same question. But now was not the time to be wondering what it is. His objective right now was to make sure this marine got back alive. "What do you mean? You're a soldier. A soldier with a promising future ahead of you. You're... A soldier," He told her, giving a slight pause before saying the final two words.

"And you're a ghost. Aren't you?" Amy suddenly brought up.

Ghost was disturbed at that question from her. That was the first time somebody told him that. "What?"

"Feelings pass right through you, don't they?" She looked up to look into his cold dark brown eyes with her waning green orbs. They shimmered in the bright moonlight that they bathed in. "So cold and unforgiving in every choice you made in battle. Pure soldier. I think that's what let us trust you so-"

"Don't talk, save your strength," Ghost quickly cut her off. He was determined to get her back to the frigate alive. Alive to live another day. To-

"I don't need it."

Ghost widened his eyes at that answer she gave him so quickly. "Huh?"

Amy closed her eyes and relaxed her body. "I need you to be strong. Strong enough to do what you've never done in your life." She opened her eyes once again, for probably the last time in her life, looking at him with desperation and hope. "Can you be strong enough to allow yourself to be—can you just be human?" She begged him softly, her voice weak yet gentle.

Ghost's eyes just widened even more at her. His mouth was gaping open slightly trying to make out words to her. But they wouldn't leave his throat. "I-"

Amy closed her eyes for the last time at him. Tears leaked from her eyes as she laid her head back into Ghost's hand that held her head up. "If not for your sake, for all of us. If you would just allow yourself to feel something... maybe you wouldn't be a ghost any longer." Her breathing then slowed down into shallow breaths, struggling for oxygen. Amy's chest rapidly moved up and down for a couple minutes before it came to a complete standstill.

Ghost beared his teeth as he held at the limp body tightly. His gritting threatened to chip his teeth from the pressure he applied to them. He closed his eyes shut. They threatened to let loose his tears but he held them back, not wanting to cry. He shivered in his spot before snapping his head up to the night sky. His mouth opened wide letting out a blood curdling scream to resonate from him. It echoed around his area, bouncing off the trees and ravines that were nearby.

"WHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY?!" He screamed.

That's when something truly died in him. That's when he became a real ghost. Devoid of all emotion and feeling. Surrounded by death.

_"... I truly am a ghost..."_

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><p><em>Three years later...<em>

**Location: Planet Algolis**, **UEG/Covenant tested space**

**Date: July 21st, 2551**

**Hades Corps**

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><p>Ghost laid on the ground starring straight into the starry night sky. Blood trickled down his lips as he panted. He had no feeling in his left arm since it was severed off from a plasma grenade that stuck itself to his arm. "What's the matter, Ghost? Why can't you move?" He whispered to himself.<p>

Cole Protocol was enacted from UNSC generals after the Covenant have invaded the planet. Fearing that they might find out the information they held in the Weapons Research Facility, they activated the protocol to purge all data and destroy any weapons and equipment in the facility.

But the Hades Corps was still stuck on the planet, even though they were ordered to pull back, after they chose to stay behind to defend the facility to make sure everything was destroyed.

They were surrounded. Outnumbered and outgunned, they slowly fell. Fell alongside their fallen brothers.

But Ghost had different plans. He disobeyed orders from the higher ups, his superiors, to make sure that his men were to be safely evacuated from the planet. He was still responsible for his men. And he was damned well to make sure that he'll see it to himself to see them taken off the planet.

Using a prototype experimental suit that some ONI engineers devised together, he suited himself up and quickly made use of it to hold off the Covenant allowing his men to safely retreat back to the transports they were to be getting into forever ago.

But he wasn't invincible.

Gradually, he was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the hostile forces. And this is where he was right now. He was bleeding out, slowly losing himself to death's door. But he didn't let that stop him.

Seeing that a Pelican and a civilian transport were flying away into the sky into space, this urged him to get back up. Grunting loudly in pain, he got his feet underneath him, stumbling as he stood back up on his feet. All nearby Covenant were shocked to see this and aimed their weapons at him, ready to fire their weapons at him if he did anything.

The Sargent panted heavily, struggling to keep himself up. Ghost soon remembered the night, the same night three years ago when he lost his entire platoon. He blamed himself everyday since that night, never forgiving himself for his actions. Actions he felt he could never atone for.

Until now.

**"Countdown complete. Voice command required. Speak the voice command exactly as displayed," **The AI of the suit told him. Looking up, his eyes widened when he saw the words that showed on the screen.

**"BE HUMAN."**

Sighing, he looked down and felt ashamed as he lost more of his consciousness.

_"...If not for your sake, for all of us. If you would just allow yourself to feel something... maybe you wouldn't be a ghost any longer..."_

Standing still there for a moment, Ghost felt himself empty. Hollow. Spaceless. But her words always haunted him since that night. They echoed in his head everyday, waking up and going to sleep.

And he made his choice.

Looking up into the screen, he grinned slightly at the screen. "Voice command authorization. "Be human"." Closing his eyes, he felt himself after a long time, felt himself smiling a bit. He heard the final beep on the suit before it let out a loud hiss before it exploded, taking him with it.

But this wasn't the end of his story. His story was just beginning.

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><p><strong>Location: Unknown<strong>

**Date: Unknown**

**Ghost**

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><p>What Ghost didn't expect to feel was him laying down on the ground. He didn't feel any burning sensation from the self-destruct sequence. His body not being torn apart from the flesh ripping explosion that should've done the same to him. But the first thing that came to mind as always was to move his hands.<p>

Feeling that his hands were still there, even his left one surprisingly, were still moving. That meant he was still alive. He was still alive my some miracle. Soon, he pried open his eyes. They narrowed in shock as he saw that a full visor was in his vision. "What the?" He slowly sat himself up and got himself up to his feet. The Sargent wobbled a bit in his footing before he managed to get a full balance in his footing. That's when he realized something different.

Lifting his arms up in front of his face, he saw that they were clad in black. But the sight of chip and wear showed that they have seen some rough time. Some pieces of the armor was coloured in a dull brown. On his chest and his left shoulder was a thicker plating of armor, with the left shoulder covered in tow longer pieces of ballistic plating. "What the hell? This... This is my old ODST armor. Why am I wearing this? Why am I still alive? And more importantly, where am I?"

Taking a quick look around his surroundings, he saw that he was in a rather dull wasteland like area. The sky was grey as well. He saw that he was beside a forest with what looks like to be ruins of a city some sort in the distance on the horizon.

He looked behind him to see something that he was slightly glad to see. Grabbing it, he took it in front of his face and held it with both hands. Pulling the pump back, he heard the familiar sound of a loud click sounding. It was a M90 Shotgun, the same shotgun he used in his time in the ODST's. He was more of a close quarters fighter, which was why he was outfitted with a CQB armor variant. It suited him better, before he went back into the marines. He then looked down to his right hip to see his M6S/SOCOM Handgun. A silenced pistol outfitted with armor-piercing rounds, it was a reliable gun to keep around, able to get the job done, even at long range.

But he slung the shotgun back onto his back with his head hung low. Ghost walked towards a tree and leaned on it before sliding down to the ground. Placing both hands on the side of his helmet, he pulled the helmet off his head and set it aside next to him. Short black hair was waving softly in the gentle breeze that was prevalent. He pulled his right leg up and propped his arm against it. He leaned his head against his hand and stared down at the ground. Tears once again threatened to leak through, but he kept them back as always.

"Why me? Why do I deserve to live?"

Unknown to him, he never noticed the pair of red eyes staring at him. It growled softly, sensing the regret the ODST radiated.

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><p><strong>Well, that was a thing. Hope you all enjoyed the story. This came up within a week or so.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello, and welcome to another chapter of Becoming Human. I know I have other stories to write, but this is always nagging at my head. **

**Another reason why I wrote this story is because of how tough of a childhood a friend of mine went through. She was always so cold and such, like Weiss if you squint. But I slowly cracked her open and now she's smiling everyday. I want to do this for her. And no, she's not dead. She's a very nice person.**

**And I know Ghost can be a nice guy as well when you give him the chance.**

**As always, these two products belong to their respective companies. I wish I worked for Rooster Teeth though.**

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><p><strong>Location: Unknown<strong>

**Date: Unknown**

**Sergeant Riley O'Neil "Ghost"**

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><p>Ghost just stayed in that position with his head propped up against his right hand. The wind whistled softly past his head letting his hair whirl around a bit. His eyes burrowed into the ground, wanting to unleash the build up tears stockpiled behind his eyes. Refusing to give in, he clenched his eyes shut. His hand gripped at his hair acting as an anchor to prevent from shedding his tears.<p>

"_Why do I deserve to live? Too many men died. Too many of my men. All dead because of me. How many did I sent to their deaths? All because of my actions? And yet I'm here, wherever the hell I am, alive and kicking."_

He always asked himself that question everyday. Ghost was always plagued with nightmares whenever he would go to sleep. He wanted some spirit or a Covenant ambush to take his life. Yet he was always alive while fellow ODSTs and marines died. A ghost surrounded by death.

A few moments passed on by in silence. It always was quiet for Ghost. The screams of his men dying never bothered him. It went through him as if he wasn't there. All he could do is see them fall in front of him dead. And there was nothing he could do.

But his period of silence was soon disturbed when he heard distant growling. This caused the ODST to stand up and donned on his helmet. The outside of the helmet polarized into a shiny black where nothing can look in, but he could still see clearly out. Ghost slung his shotgun off his back and brought it up to eye level and pumped it. This was pure instinct for Ghost to do since he joined the ODSTs, learning to adapt quickly to various situations, whether they happened before or not.

Deciding that the best option right now was to run and find out where he is, the ODST cautiously moved backwards without turning his body away from the forest at the same time. The M90 Shotgun was held firmly in his grip while it was aimed at the treeline, ready to unleash a storm of lead into anything that came for him.

Ghost quickly snapped his eyes to the right. His sight caught the foliage rustling around. "Alright, stop fucking around with me and come out," Ghost boldly threw out. He placed his index finger on the trigger and squeezed it softly, ready to fire if need be.

And he was given an answer.

A pitch black figure slowly stepped out from the foliage along with a low growl. Bright piercing red eyes glared animalistic with the lust to kill. If looks could kill, this wouldn't even rank anywhere a hundred in Ghost's books. He has met face to face with a Sangheili that threatened to rip his face off with it's mandibles stretching out to bite him. It would've if he hadn't stabbed his knife in it's neck. White bone plating was on it's face and back of the wolf like creature that appeared before him. It then let out a loud roar that echoed away, meaning it was ready to attack.

Ghost smirked behind his visor as it charged towards him. "Poor choice." Aiming down at one of it's legs, he applied full pressure on the trigger. A hail of pellets were shot out from the shotgun and hurled itself into the front left leg. The creature could only howl in sharp pain, falling on the ground on it's injured leg. Ghost then ran towards it and dropped the shotgun and caught it by it's barrel and held it like a club. He then got close to the creature and swung towards it's head. The stock of the M90 Shotgun made contact with the bone plating and cracked it behind the force.

Years of training and combat have given Ghost almost unhuman strength, being able to go toe to toe with a Brute on the field. To finish things off, he aimed the shotgun in front of it's face and pulled the trigger. The force from the shot and the close distance caused a huge chunk of the head to be blown off.

Ghost sighed and reached into a small vest pocket while looking at the body. The ODST pulled out a couple of shotgun shells and loaded them into the M90 Shotgun. It slowly let out some smoke as it started to dissolve right in front of his eyes. "That's weird. Well, Covenant do burn nicely." He poked the dissolving corpse of the creature with the gun and sighed a bit. "But this isn't Covenant."

He slung the shotgun back onto his back before turning around to look at the ruins he saw earlier when he woke up. "If I'm going to spend the night out here, that place looks the best place to set up shop. It'll have to do instead of staying out here." Taking out his M6S/SOCOM Pistol in hand, Ghost took in a deep breath and began a quick march towards the ruins without second thought. It was the only place that made sense that would prove to serve as a place to hold up for the meantime.

Basically, ODST training was kicking back in.

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><p><em>Two hours later...<em>

It never surprised Ghost that he wasn't ambushed on his way towards the location he was heading for. He always had this certain aura that emitted from him that caused living things to stay away from him. Even some Elites were scared of him as he approached closer to them before he caused their demise.

He was only panting lightly during his quick march, sweat lightly forming on his forehead as he neared the ruins. It was fairly dark when he reached the limits of the ruins. Looking to the left, he saw a destroyed sign that was eroded from time and wear.

**Vale, Alpha Extension **It read.

Ghost stopped his marching and stopped on a slightly cracked street and looked around him. Many of the buildings were destroyed and chunks removed from them. Some weren't even done construction, showing some cranes and construction vehicles. The wind whistled through the desolate streets with the dust and dirt being picked up from the breeze.

Placing his left hand together with his right, he raised his pistol up to eyesight and entered the city cautiously. Ghost scanned the place thoroughly, eyes flickering from the ground up. He sighed when he couldn't see anything past ten feet away from him. "VISR. Night Vision," He whispered softly to himself. His vision went blank for a moment before it opened it to a more green like vision. Objects were highlight in a yellow outlining like car wreckages or buildings. "Set it to any unknown visual is hostile."

The A.I in his suit just let out a positive beep with Ghost smiling a bit. He never smiled to anyone, less than himself. But he allowed himself to smile, just when no one was around. "Thanks, buddy," He said to his A.I. It let out another beep in thanks at him, a soft chirp. Navy Special Weapons (Or NavSpecWeap) saw that Ghost was one of the few ODSTs that was combat effective in any situation. While all ODSTs are _combat effective, _Ghost was one of the few that was more brutal of the 105th Marine Expeditionary Unit. While not as strong or changed as a Spartan, the ODST was one of the best the 7th Shock Troopers Battalion had to offer.

Looking around a little more, Ghost saw that there was an opening in a building. It looked like it was blown wide open by something. He then looked up the building to see it was a decent tall tower. Even being on the ground, he could tell that it provided observation around his surroundings and would prove to be a good place to set up. Why? Ask a certain ODST sniper whom the ladies ran after every time. He knew everything that was a good place to set up a sniper's nest.

Holstering his pistol, Ghost took out his M90 Shotgun and walked into the building. And when it's a large building like this, there was bound to be stairs. He looked up to see a sign pointing towards where the stairs are. "Convenient. Very convenient."

Ghost shuffled himself over to the set of stairs and took cover beside it. Taking in a deep breath, he got in front of it and kicked the door down. The loud thud echoed through out the building. He aimed his shotgun forward while scanning the stairs. Nodding in satisfaction, he made way towards the stairs and slowly ascended them up to the point he found outside.

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><p><em>Five minutes later...<em>

Time seemed to fly on by as Ghost went up the stairs. He already passed twenty six floors, wanting to get to the twenty seventh floor to set up shop. "Finally," The ODST muttered quietly. He got in front of the door that went to the floor he wanted to go to. Not even waiting, he ran towards the door and rammed himself through it. Soon after breaking through it, he got down on one knee and aimed down the hallway. All he heard was the echoing of the loud smashing of the door and crows cawing. Ghost stood back up and started his survey of a good place to hold up.

To the looks of it, the place seemed like it used to be an apartment complex. Heading down the hallway, he chose the room at the end of it. Getting there, he slowly opened the door with care with his left hand while pointing the shotgun through the opening with his right hand. Looking in, he saw it was clear. And the best part, it had a window that overlooked a good portion of the city.

Placing the M90 Shotgun on the wall beside him, Ghost walked into the center of the room to observe it. It was modest. While the furniture was decayed with cobwebs littering the couches and bookshelves, it was nonetheless a good place to stay put for the time being.

The ODST took out his handgun and walked around. Seeing that another room was connected to what he assumes as the living room, he cautiously walked in with the firearm in hand ready to shoot. It was a smaller room compared to the living room section. There was a bed, with no doubt layers of dust and webs on it. The wooden frame of the bed was rotten and the air was heavy with the scent of rotting flesh. But that didn't bother Ghost one bit.

A small nod from him confirmed that it was clear to his satisfaction. Whether he was going up against another Covenant target or an unknown enemy, he always had a hunch for something when there was something going to happen or something hidden. A sixth sense to be basic.

Being safe, Ghost closed the door into the room and pushed a bookshelf right in front of it. He then holstered his M6S/SOCOM and removed his helmet off his head. He shook his head and rubbed his forehead trying to relax himself. His fingerless gloves allowed the skin to make contact with the head for more effect.

Walking over to the window, he wiped down the dust that accumulated on the glass and looked out of it. All what his eyes saw immediately was the sight of decayed buildings. "This is perfect," Ghost muttered to himself. But his eyes soon saw that there was rather bright lights on the horizon. And if his eyes were seeing things, he saw a ship of some sort flying towards it. Nodding, the ODST knew that would be the next destination that would make sense to head towards. Wherever there was light and at least some type of transportation, there was civilization.

Deciding that he has had enough for one day, he bent down and leaned on the wall beside the window. Ghost leaned his head back against the wall and sighed. "Just... Get some rest... It should do me some good."

Taking in a deep breath, Ghost closed his eyes and let out that breath. He sighed softly and relaxed his body. It had been a long day for him. He never even had sleep for four days straight since he arrived on Planet Algolis. But he feared sleep at times. He would see the faces of the men that died in front of him. But there was always one face that scared him. One he wished he would forget but at the same time didn't.

_"Spartans never die, Riley... And I'll be with you... Always..."_

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><p><strong>WHOOO! Winter break! I'll try my best to pump out as much as I can during the break before I resume school. But till then, I'll do as much as I can.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello everyone! After having a very long writers block and a lot of Destiny gameplay, I'm back. Also exams as well. Hate those things.**

**And it's sad to see that Monty has moved on. But as what a fairly low I.Q blue armored Spartan has said. "He's not dead. He's just not here right now." And I'll keep moving forward.**

**Enough of my bantering, I hope you enjoy the next chapter. A small heads up that I might be a bit rusty for a bit since I haven't been writing for awhile so forgive me on that. I'll get back in proper gear either way.**

**And for those who are wondering if I'm abandoning my other stories like Metro, I'm not. I'm planning for them. Making outlines and stuff. I'm not.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>"<em>Hey, I promised Mom that I'll look after you. I'm not leaving you all alone here. Besides, Pat said that he'll let us stay on his frigate since he is our older brother."<em>

"_Riley, I can take care of myself. I don't need to have a babysitter look after me all the time."_

"_Jackie, you gotta remember that Mom wanted us to stay together so the family won't be separated."_

"_And we haven't seen Patrick in over eight years-"_

"_That was because of him being in engagement against the Covies, kay? He's been on three tours already. Remember that."_

"_Fine."_

"_I'm gonna make sure that you'll be fine, little bro. As long as I can breathe, I'll make sure..."_

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><p>Ghost snapped his eyes open with a startled gasp escaping his lips. Sweat was teaming around his forehead flowing down his face. They soaked his eyebrows leaving his face glistening faintly from the pale light that invaded the room from the dull morning sun.<p>

"Jackson..." Ghost sputtered from his trembling lips. He placed his hands on his face and massaged his head to ease him troubled heart.

It wasn't uncommon for the ODST to have tormenting dreams. It was rare for him to catch some sleep without any delusions intruding into his head. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was always being haunted by the sight of horrors on the battlefield, his fallen men... Close people.

A dead air hung around him as he continued to ease his heart down for a couple minutes. Most times when he would be startled, he would immediately snap out of it. But after having numerous years in his military service, it was clear that he suffered from PTSD and would experience night terrors from time to time.

And it always reminded him of the true horrors of what war does to a man. And everyone has a breaking point. He just hasn't found his yet.

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><p><em>A few minutes later...<em>

Ghost was seated on one of the heavily dust covered chairs and looked at a small square screen placed on the coffee table. Reaching over, he pressed on a button on the side. A bright blue light was emitted from the screen before it showed a reflection of him.

Ghost cleared his throat and smacked his lips together. "This is Sergeant Riley O'Neil. Journal entry hundred thirty two. Today is day two of wherever the hell I am. I was back on Planet Algolis." Ghost paused for a moment placing his hands together in front of his mouth and blew into them. I... I saved my men at the cost of my life. But instead I find myself here instead of being dead. Pff. Wherever I am. I encountered some weird black creature. Clearly wasn't Covenant. From my assumptions it acted purely on instinct. Had nothing giving it orders. Like my old dog. Walker didn't last long. Either way, top priorities is to find out where I am and to gather intel on this place. Ghost out."

He reached back and pressed the button stopping the recording. Ghost, or also now known as Riley from his audio log recording, pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back against the chair. He sighed deeply. "Been awhile since I've done that." Ghost turned his head to the cracked window and looked closely at the horizon. The same horizon where he saw the aircraft heading towards. "I should get moving in five. I should be there roughly in about an hour or two... Considering if there is somewhere over there."

All he did was chuckle and nod curtly to himself. "This is complete FUBAR."

* * *

><p><em>Later...<em>

His feet were begging to be amputated to stop their misery. But Ghost refused to stop his quick march towards the north, determined to get to the _place._ He has been marching for the past three hours. Three hours. And he didn't even have a break. He doesn't joke around when he wants to get things done.

But to his salvation, he felt a huge weight being lifted off his chest. He stood on a high clifftop with a pair of binoculars. He removed his helmet and looked through them. What he saw were tall walls surrounding some sort of city. Aircraft similar to Falcons and Pelicans were hovering about and people were walking peacefully down the bustling streets. And the good thing was that there seemed to be other ruins nearby. Not far from the place, but it was close enough where he could set up shop.

"At least I brought everything," Ghost muttered. "Now how do I get in?"

He scanned across the wall looking for any weak points. Ghost didn't want to break in and cause a huge commotion. That would just stain his reputation. So he was looking for a way to get in undetected and the same way going out. Besides from orbital drops and vanguard assignments, ODSTs were also specialized in stealth ops and infiltration.

Along with other ODSTs, Ghost has done a huge number of stealth ops deep within Covenant territory. And if he can sneak inside a heavily fortified Covenant military base, then he can sneak inside past these walls.

Ghost then locked his eyes on a manhole sticking out of the wall. Zooming in, he saw that the metal was rusting and looked rather brittle. A few rounds from his pistol should do the trick. Placing the binoculars away, Ghost placed his helmet back on and had it polarized. "Bingo."

He jumped over the cliffside and started sliding down the slanted side of the cliff. As soon as his feet made contact with flat ground, he dove forward and rolled along the ground back up to his feet. Ghost walked over to the manhole at the wall and took out his M6S/SOCOM Handgun. Aiming at the rusted bolts and hinges, he fired a round into each. Small pangs went off from the six shots at the weak points. It fell on the ground from the sixth shot and let out a thunderous thud, echoing out through the small ravine he was in.

He only winced slightly from that and grumbled wistfully to himself. "I should make sure I don't cause anymore commotion inside." Ghost flicked himself on his helmeted forehead before jumping into the pipe that lead into the city.

* * *

><p>The sloshing of water was starting to become fairly annoying to the ODST as he walked through the enclosed space he was making way through. "Good thing I'm not on my hands an' knees crawling," Ghost cursed under his breath. He saw that there was a light at the end of the pipeline, but that was at least fifteen minutes ago. He's been wondering how wide the wall was since he passed the ten minute marker.<p>

Once again, hope reared it's head again showing that he was reaching the end of his crouched march through the pipeline. The light grew brighter as he neared the other end of the pipe. "Finally..." The ODST muttered. Any longer and he would've grabbed one of the many rats scurrying along and threw it across to entertain himself. Safe to say that wasn't happening anytime soon.

He reached the end of the pipeline and saw that it was blocked off with a grate as well. Gladly, there was a gate that lead to the other side. But there was a lock keeping it in place. Without thinking, he pulled out his pistol and shot at the lock. He caught the broken lock and set it gently on the ground and placed his hands on the gate. Pushing against it slowly, it let out high pitched creaking as it opened gradually. Stepping forward as soon as it was wide open, Ghost stepped foot onto the concrete ground and did the same again to the door closing it.

Ghost found himself in a somewhat dark alleyway. Sunlight barely touched the enclosed narrow space which fitted perfectly for the ODST's black armor color scheme. Daringly walking through the ally, he made his way to the edge of the shadows that was fairly near the street. He then stopped near the edge of the dark and crouched down and he looked around to see what was going on.

_"This doesn't seem to match anything in the UNSC Database. Buildings seem to be of European design, maybe like Florence. But it reminds me of Free Hold back on Reach." _Ghost took down mental notes as he continued to observe the city he just snuck into. What surprised him deeply was seeing people with animal parts. Dog tails. Cat and rabbit ears. Bull horns. _"Seems to be some type of hybrid."_

His ears then twitched when he heard a faint scream from across the road. Snapping his head up, Ghost saw that a woman with rabbit ears was in another alley. She was pinned against the wall with a figure dressed in a black suit, slacks and fedora with a red tie. He had a knife drawn out with it inching closer to her neck. This just only triggered a faint memory in the back of his head reminding him of someone being in the same situation.

Clenching his M6S/SOCOM a little tighter in hand, Ghost stood up and drew in a deep breath. Without considering the consequences of what is to come, he sprinted out of the alley. He heard a car horn blow out from beside him and he turned his head to his side. He jumped into the air and vaulted over the hood of the car and continued his sprint. He raised his hands up and aimed at the thug's kneecaps. He pulled on the trigger twice and the screams were heard from him as he collapsed on the ground holding onto his obliterated joints.

The woman only covered her mouth in shock seeing what just happened in an instant. She looked up and widened her eyes when she saw a man suited up in black armor running over aiming his pistol at the man on the ground. "Get lost," Ghost snarled at the man pulling back on the pistol, cocking it loudly. The thug only whimpered in dread and agony as he tried to crawl away from him.

Ghost then turned his head over to the woman as he holstered his pistol. The woman only covered her face with her arms trying to make herself shrink as if she wasn't there. "Easy. Easy," He eased to her. He placed his hands on his helmet and removed it from his head. "I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe now."

The woman slowly lowered her arms down to take a peek at him. She still remained stiff when she saw that he was human. But why would a human save her? Wouldn't a human just pass by without bothering to help out? Then why was this one doing this? "W-Why?" She squeaked out at him.

"Hey, I'm not going to turn a blind eye to you, ma'am. A soldier doesn't walk away from the innocent," Ghost reassured her. He then reached out and lightly tapped her shoulder. "Relax."

The woman noticed that his eyes were rather weathered. Full of conflict. Rage. And sorrow. But the flame of kindness burned behind those eyes. And his presence just put her at ease. Taking a deep breath of her own, she nodded at him. "Well, thank you, Mr...?"

"Just call me Riley," Ghost replied to her. But at the same time, he was wondering why he was doing this. Was it that memory that just rose earlier that compelled him to do this? Was it him reacting just purely on instinct? Or was he reminded of by the words of Amy from her dying words? He mentally shook his head deciding to figure that out later. Right now, acting was his priority.

"Riley, what a nice name. I'm Zoey Scarlatina. Thank you for saving me from that mongrel. Crime is certainly running rampant through this city right now." Zoey then looked at his armor and his current firearm strapped to his thigh. "You said you're a soldier,, am I correct?'

"Yes."

"Are you from Atlas by any chance?"

Ghost just gulped silently when he heard that. _"Atlas? Must be a place from around here. Just act. I'll figure things out later." _He nodded at her. "Yes, ma'am."

"How come you're not stationed back in your kingdom?" Zoey asked him curtly.

"I'm just on leave right now. ma'am. I just, ummm, never visited this place yet so I wanted to check it out. I guess I just got lost," Ghost responded back on the go. He had no idea what she was saying, but he had to play along.

Zoey placed her hands on her hips and nodded at him. "Do you have anywhere to stay in Vale?"

"No, ma'am."

"Well, the least I can do for you is fill your stomach up and let you rest. You look beyond from the land of the living. You must be starving."

"Miss, I'm telling you, I'm fine-"

She grabbed his hand and started dragging him out of the alley. "It's the least I could do. Just come along."

Ghost was grunting softly as he tried to pry himself from her grasp only to notice how tight of an iron grip she had. _"What the fuck? How the hell does she have a grip like that?"_

"Come along. I promise I won't bite. I'm sure my husband will be alright with you staying with us for a couple days."

Ghost just remained silent as he was dragged along the sidewalk. He looked around to see pedestrians staring at him with puzzled looks on their faces. _"What have you gotten yourself into now, Riley?" _He thought.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, Ghost has found himself in a rather awkward situation. Always think before you do or you might find yourself in a hole you might never get out of. What will happen to our fellow ODST?<strong>


End file.
